“The Real Trash Are The People”: As Trash Takes Over The World, These Folks Should Be The Real Influencers

People collectively produce about 57 million tons of plastic waste and litter every year. And nature is paying the price. Around 20 million metric tons of waste finds its way directly into the environment, where plants, animals and other organisms suffer the consequences.

Smokers are the biggest culprits, with cigarette butts being the single most common piece of litter on earth. Roughly 4.5 trillion (yes, TRILLION) discarded cigarette butts accumulate in streets, rivers, and oceans every year. Not only are they an eyesore, but they’re causing massive harm to animals and the environment.

One study notes that even unsmoked cellulose acetate filters can be toxic to some invertebrates and plants. But once a cigarette is smoked, the filter poses an increased chemical threat.

"Cigarettes contain over 7000 toxic chemicals," reads the study, adding that some of these are readily leached into aquatic habitats. In the ocean, the cigarette butts can be lethal for certain fish and other marine life. They can also alter their growth and feeding habits.

"On land, littered cigarette butts can contaminate crops with nicotine, and reduce growth and alter productivity of common plants," it warns.

Plastic is also a massive problem. Researchers warn that by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish (by weight) in the world’s oceans. According to the World Wildlife Fund, 1 million plastic bottles are sold every minute, but less than 50% are recycled. And that's just the bottles.

National Geographic reports that less than 10% of all plastic gets recycled globally, leaving millions of tons to crowd landfills or leak into oceans and soils each year. The United Nations Environmental Program has also warned that, if things remain as they are, plastic waste is projected to nearly triple by 2060.